Beat It, Black
by Notice327
Summary: She doesn't hate him. Quite the opposite. He's a great friend, but when the world outside Hogwarts starts changing, how will that affect the lives of the students inside its walls? MWPP SB/OC?RL/OC
1. Practice, Pudding, and Pinches

Practice, Pudding, and Pinches

"Jackson! Get your arse over here before I kick it right off the team!" Captain James Potter screamed at his fellow chaser Margaret Jackson as she exited the locker room at a slow stroll. Potter rolled his eyes and turned away to hide his smile as his teammate stuck her tongue out at him as a challenge to his threat. Meg, as she was fondly called by everyone, quickly plaited and tied off her long chestnut hair before mounting her broom. The wind rushed around her, raising goose bumps on the bare flesh of her legs and a bright smile emerged on Meg's flushed face as she rose into the air to join her impatient captain and teammates.

"Stop showing off!" the best beater in the school and notorious ladies' man, Sirius Black yelled at his spunky teammate as she passed him practically vertical on her shiny new broom. Meg laughed at his childish pout as she flew circles around him, whipping his shaggy black hair into a makeshift beehive.

Adverse to any sort of change unless absolutely necessary, Captain Potter conducted his practices the same way every time. Despite the ruthless work out of the first hour and a half of practice, each member of the team perked up when scrimmage began. Two minutes into the game, Meg had gained control of the quaffle and was making her way to the goal when a bludger whipped by her ear. Looking over her shoulder, Meg saw the team's other beater Philip Gogarty flying away. She smiled and continued towards the goals. She passed the quaffle to Potter as he came up on her right.

Meg glanced to her left where Sirius Black flew, his bat at the ready as though it was his soul purpose in life to protect her. Her frustration growing, Meg feinted and fell behind Sirius, making herself a more open target for Phil, but still a challenge. She spun out of the way as Phil sent a bludger towards her again. She flashed an encouraging grin at Phil, but he did not see it because Sirius was blocking his view, waving his arms in fury and thoroughly invading Phil's personal space. Meg's smile became a frown as she broke formation and flew to the two beaters. She managed to get between Black and Phil and shoved the furious Marauder away from their teammate.

"What are you doing? Phil was just practicing!" Meg shouted at the usually laid back charmer. Black glared at Meg and then shifted to look at Gogarty.

"Just remember what I said. This is practice not a game. You don't have to be quite so accurate," Black growled and turned, flying towards Potter and the rest of the team. Meg rolled her eyes at Black's strange behavior.

"Don't worry about him. You were doing really well Phil, but next time aim for the abdomen rather than the shoulder. It's much bigger and will stun your target a little longer than a shoulder blow." Meg patted her teammate's shoulder before flying towards the rest of the team. Potter had blown his whistle and was waiting for her and Gogarty to join the circle. Black zoomed from his spot next to Potter and parked next to Meg, who ignored his cheerful smile, his trademark attempt to apologize without actually saying it.

"Good practice everyone. Same time next week. Now hit the showers. You all smell horrible," the captain finished with a smirk and a wink, before hightailing it towards the ground.

Everyone chuckled and followed Potter in the great race for showers. Though the locker rooms provided more than enough showers for the ten players, there was always a fight to get someone else's usual shower, just for fun. Meg laughed at her scurrying teammates as she flew towards the stands where her best friend and biggest fan Lily Evans had watched and waited through the entire practice.

"'Lo Lils. I'll just be a few minutes, do you mind waiting?" Meg asked cheerfully, scanning the skies around her for any sign of the pesky Sirius Black.

"Do I ever mind?" Lily returned with a laugh. Meg wiggled her eyebrows in what was meant to be a questioning manner, but her efforts only made her friend laugh more and shake her head. "What exactly are you trying to do, Meg?"

"Geez, what good are you Lily? Is Black hanging around?" Meg asked with a sigh as she shook her head at her highly intelligent friend's obliviousness.

"What? No, he went in ages ago. Why would he be 'hanging around'? All the girls from the fan club went inside before the scrimmage."

"I dunno, Lily. He was acting strange today. Didn't you see him confront poor Phil?" Lily shook her head. "Oh, well. I'm going to get clean now," Meg shrugged her shoulders and flew away with a wave to her red headed friend.

"Good luck with that," Lily shouted after her. Meg laughed as she landed at the door to the locker rooms. She followed the familiar hall to the girls' section and put her broom into her locker. After freeing herself from the protective gear, Meg undressed and hopped into the closest shower, not bothering to see if her usual shower was being used by one of her teammates. With the grime and sweat, Meg washed away any thoughts of Black and his odd behavior. She finished her shower, refreshed and cheerful and got dressed in her school clothes. She muttered a half-hearted _tergeo_, cleaning most of the dirt from her practice clothes, before exiting the locker room and joining Lily on the Pitch.

--

The spirit-lifting smells of dinner wafted through the open doors of the Great Hall. The two friends entered the large room to find that the food had already appeared on the long tables, and their schoolmates had been enjoying dinner for quite some time. Spotting some empty space on the bench, Lily led Meg down the aisle and grabbed the seats. The girls filled their plates with the most appetizing side dishes and entrées. The friends ignored the usual glares from several of their female schoolmates who choose to hate them simply because of James's fascination with Lily and Meg's close relationship with her mischievous teammates.

"So, what was Potter's come-on this afternoon that put you in such a foul mood?" Meg managed to ask between large, unladylike bites of shepherd's pie.

Lily finished chewing a bite of bread and sighed, "Nothing too original. He winked and tossed a flower at me. If it weren't Potter and if the flower hadn't hit me square in the eye, it would have been quite romantic."

"What?" Meg gasped, her voice cracking with surprise.

"What? Oh, I mean, it was…Speak of the devil." Lily nodded towards the entrance where Potter and Black had just entered. The two wildly popular boys sauntered down the aisle towards the girls. James smiled sheepishly at Lily as he passed. She grunted in response and shoveled a piece of bread into her mouth. Black gently patted Meg's head, flashing his winning smile as he did so. Meg grunted and swung behind her, trying to hit her assailant. He laughed as her fist whizzed by him with a good four inches in between.

"Good try, Meg," he chuckled as he continued down the table to his posse. The usual crowd of silly fan-girls that surround the Marauders had grown especially large and susceptible to Sirius's charms over the years. Sirius particularly enjoyed having the girls there to admire him, but never acknowledged them. A wave of gasps and general confusion spread through the Great Hall as Sirius turned away from his friends and his fan club and returned to Lily and Meg's spot at the table where he squeezed in between them, smiling cheerfully as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

"Um…yes? Can we help you?" Meg asked skeptically.

"Hmm? Oh, no. Well, actually, you could pass me the potatoes." Black grinned and held out his hand for the bowl of boiled potatoes. Shocked and unsure of how else to react, Meg silently handed the bowl to the ever-confusing Sirius Black.

"Won't your gal pals be missing you, Black?" Lily chimed in, sneakily asking the question that was running through everyone's mind. Why was Sirius Black sitting away from his admirers?

"I'm not sure. I've never really done anything like this. They probably didn't even realize I came in," he answered nonchalantly through a mouthful of potato. Meg grimaced at the lovely view of half chewed vegetable and decided to attempt finishing her dinner before asking anymore questions.

The main course drew to a close and the desserts began to appear on the table. A shining golden bowl appeared in front of the strange trio full of soft, giggly chocolate colored pudding. Meg gasped and clapped her hands in delight. Black stared at her in bewilderment as she pointed the bowl out to Lily, who joined her in her revelry. Noticing the confused expression marring Black's handsome features, the girls exploded into giggles. Meg slowly reached across the table to grab the bowl of pudding and noticed several glares aimed in her direction from down the table. Her smile faded as she eased back into her seat. She served herself, Sirius and Lily large helpings of pudding and placed the bowl on the table.

Sirius had already begun to eat his helping when Meg turned to him and asked, "Didn't you say that your fan club wouldn't notice that you weren't sitting with them?"

"Huh?" Sirius replied after swallowing. Meg grabbed his head and forcefully turned it towards the glares. He coughed uncomfortably and shook away from her hold.

"Oh, that. That's nothing. They'll get over it. It's just a bit of jealousy," he explained calmly before returning his attention to his pudding. Lily scooped herself a second helping, but Meg had yet to touch the generous helping in her bowl.

"Jealousy? Of what exactly?" Meg asked in a forced calm and curious tone. "Black! What are they jealous of?" she asked more forcefully, revealing her mounting frustration.

Sirius swallowed the last bite of pudding from his bowl and licked half of it before answering, "You, of course."

Leaving Meg stunned and furious, Sirius patted his friend's head once more, rose from the table and quitted the Great Hall with the same cocky swagger he used any time he knew people were watching him. Meg turned to her friend for reassurance, but was only greeted with the childish picture of Lily's face buried in her bowl. Meg rolled her eyes and sighed. The agitation in her friend's sigh caught Lily's attention and forced her to leave the heaven of her pudding bowl.

"Meg, what's up?" Lily asked, but received only a burning glare before Meg turned her attention to her untouched pudding and took a large bite. Lily's brow furrowed in concentrated worry as her friend threw down her spoon and left the table without a word. She followed Meg, keeping up with her long strides by going two at a time up the marble stairs. Unsure of the problem, Lily refrained from asking any prying questions. Friends since the second year, Lily and Meg had learned how to communicate despite their strikingly opposite dispositions. The friends had reached the third floor before Meg turned on her fiery haired companion and loosed her emotions.

"Lily was the pudding really that good? Did you honestly miss everything that happened just now?" Meg's livid voice echoed off the stones walls of the corridor. Lily absorbed the shock of her friend's anger, and then let it pass away. Obviously, Lily's addiction to pudding was not the real source of Meg's anger.

"Well, the pudding was quite delicious tonight, but I'm not totally oblivious. You're probably upset because Black just made us, mostly you, a target for his fan club." She shrugged as she summed up the situation.

"That's the genius I know and love!" Meg wrapped her arm around her friend's shoulder, her frustration ebbing as they continued up the stairs. "Now we have to devise a plan to get me off of the psychos' RADAR or I am dead meat."

Lily laughed at Meg's slight overreaction but became serious when she saw the somber expression on her face. While some hysteria is without cause, Meg had personally witnessed the horrendous effects of being one of Black's girlfriends when the fan girls get their hands on you. As many burns, scrapes, and bruises as she had bandaged, Meg had also had the responsibility of reversing hexes, potions and jinxes put on the poor girls that were "lucky" enough to date Sirius Black and end up in the Hospital Wing.

"Well, we need to make a list of your options. You could ignore Black for a while, but that might make him angry and then he'd pay even more attention to you," Lily began to brainstorm out loud, contradicting and negating most of her ideas until Meg became desperate for any ideas that would not lead to utter disaster.

"I could talk to him, I guess," she finally suggested when Lily had been silent for a moment. Lily shrugged her shoulders and gave the password to the Fat Lady.

"Good evening, loves," the Fat Lady greeted the pair with cheer and then hiccupped. She had obviously been into her favorite drink that evening.

"Not really," Meg mumbled as she entered the portrait hole and stepped into the mostly deserted Common room. Lily mock gagged as she pointed out a couple getting cozy in the shadows. Meg suppressed her chuckles and led her friend to the couch in front of the fire. According to their post-practice routine, the girls hopped over the back of the large sofa in front of the fire and landed with contented sighs on the couch. Meg squirmed and wiggled, trying to flatten the lumps in her cushion to their usual comfortable squishiness and, glancing to her left, noticed Lily doing the same.

"Is the couch a bit lumpy tonight?" Meg posed the question going through both of their minds. Lily nodded in the affirmative and jumped up from the couch with a scream. Meg stared at Lily's shocked face.

"What's wro-?" Meg began to ask before screaming and jumping off the couch, rubbing a sore spot on her backside where she had been pinched. "Bloody Hell! What was that?"

"You have a very nice ass, Meg. Has anyone ever told you that?" Sirius chuckled and sat up from his lounging position. He patted the couch on either side of him and tilted his head in invitation. Lily rolled her eyes and stormed off towards the Heads' Dorm across the room. "Did I do something to upset her?" Sirius grinned and slouched against the couch, letting his head fall backwards. Meg didn't answer him but sat down anyway, knowing that Lily would be pissy for hours because of Sirius's behavior.

"What exactly do you girls think you were doing? You didn't even check to see if anyone was here!" Sirius laughed and draped his arm along the couch behind Meg's shoulders. Black scooted toward her with a goofy grin on his face. Meg frowned at him, and he backed away but only about an inch.

"Black, I have a question or really more of a request," Meg stated without looking at him.

"Oh really? What is it you need to say Miss Jackson?" Sirius asked in a business-like tone. Meg scowled at him and punched him hard on the shoulder.

"I'm serious," she said. Before Sirius could react to her mistake, she covered his mouth with her hand. "Don't say it. I know you're Sirius, but I really do need you to listen, okay?" He nodded his head and the mischief left his eyes, so Meg removed her hand. "Good, now what I wanted to ask you is will you please not pull any more stunts like dinner tonight?"

"What do mean by 'stunt'? I just wanted to sit with you guys, my lady pals," he barely got through the sentence with a straight face before falling over from the force of his bark-like laughter. Meg fiercely smacked him in the back of the head. He sat up, pouting at her and rubbed the tender spot.

"Alright! I won't be nice to you for a while. Happy?" He conceded, still rubbing his head. Meg laughed at his downtrodden expression, leaned towards him, and kissed the spot where she had hit him.

"Thanks, Black!" Meg sprung up from the couch and then ran across the room and up the stairs to tell the news to Lily.

"You're welcome," Black shouted after her.


	2. Tickling, Towers, and the Truth

Tickling, Towers, and the Truth

"So what is with the pudding?" a tickling whisper asked in Meg's ear. She cringed at the strange sensation, but couldn't help the grin that lit her face because of the light tickle. She turned in her seat to look at Sirius standing in the aisle behind her. Meg had just finished off a mixed bowl of vanilla and chocolate pudding. Lily had chosen to savor hers tonight and was only half way done with her helping. Meg shrugged in response to Sirius's question.

"I don't really know. It's delicious is all." She smiled, which Sirius took as an invitation to sit down. Meg's smile became a frown as she realized that Sirius meant to stay, but she was unable to keep it up for long because of the dreaded puppy eyes. Black had been doing really well until tonight. He had been only occasionally friendly to Meg in public and had aimed a few extra bludgers at his teammate during practice, all of which erased the hit that she and Lily were sure had been put on Meg's life by his fans.

In private, however, Black had become increasingly charming and friendly towards his reluctant peer. He had gone out of his way several times to accidentally bump into Meg as she meandered through the less traveled corridors of the castle. Meg had her doubts about the validity of Sirius's claims to coincidence, but in her heart, she wanted to believe that he was trying to do as she had asked. The secretive smirk that was always lurking beneath the surface of his surprised expression when he stumbled upon her had proved her hopes to be unfounded. It was difficult to stay mad at the devilishly handsome rogue when he feigned shock and greeted her with a "Fancy meeting you here, Meg."

"Delicious?" he asked Meg, staying within range of her ticklish neck and ears. Suppressing her body's desire to shiver, Meg drew herself back to reality and smacked Sirius for his sarcastic and demeaning tone. "Ow! What was that for?" whined the masculine Black, stepping away from his attacker and rubbing the red mark on his arm.

"You insulted pudding!" Lily chimed in, quickly swallowing a mouthful of pudding. Meg nodded emphatically, her braided pigtails bouncing on her shoulders with the force, and frowned once more as Black started to laugh. Lily finished her pudding much quicker than she wanted to, glanced at her best friend with a defiant nod and left her seat. Knowing that Lily was in a foul mood from all of Sirius's interruptions, Meg followed suit, making her way toward the door. She joined Lily at the end of Gryffindor table and continued toward the door, ignoring the pleas to wait and half-hearted apologies Black attempted between outbursts of laughter.

As the indignant pair began to climb the stairs, the number of persons following them multiplied. Lily stiffened, clutching Meg's wrist in a silent plea for help against the only other person who would chase them from the Great Hall: Potter. Hoping for Lily's sake that her fears were unfounded, Meg glanced over her shoulder at their pursuers. She could not help but grumble as her gaze took in Potter and Black maintaining a steady pace behind them. Lily groaned and attempted to quicken the pace, but it was a wasted effort. The more mischievous half of the Marauders caught up to their quarry quickly, but not before the girls had taken the route to the Astronomy Tower in an attempt to lose them.

"Hello, ladies," Potter greeted in what he imagined was a smooth attempt at chivalry. Black chuckled at his friend's pathetic eagerness, drawing Meg's attention away from Lily and James. He was walking next to her, but not just nearby. He was right beside her. Sirius Black, the playboy of Hogwarts had once again chosen to abandon his groupies to be beside her. Despite the shrill warning voice in her head, Meg flushed and smiled at this realization.

"What do you want?" Lily asked, barely able to hold back the furious yell she was dying to let loose. Black shrugged and nodded at Potter, eliciting a furious eye-roll from Lily.

"This wasn't my idea, I swear," he coolly passed the blame to his best friend, who gasped in hurt at the betrayal. James played up the drama of the situation by clutching his chest as if Sirius had just thrust a dagger into his heart.

"Padfoot, mate, I can't believe you sold me out. It's true, of course. I saw Sirius following the two of you out of the Great Hall and decided to join him. He was about to give up the chase, but I persuaded him otherwise," Potter finished by flashing a grin in Lily's direction. She released an exasperated sigh as she stepped onto the narrower final staircase leading to the Astronomy Tower. Potter squeezed past Meg to walk behind Lily. Infuriated by his successful usurping of her rightful position, she shoved her captain. Skilled and agile on a broom, James lacked balance on the ground and tripped, falling forward, and grabbing Lily's arm, pulling them both to the floor. Black began to chuckle at the tangled mess of red hair and lanky limbs. Oblivious to the infectious nature of Sirius's laughter, Meg stood next to him and barely noticed as her frustration transformed into amusement. Unnoticed by Meg, Sirius's smile grew as her laughter joined his.

Black eased his arm around the slender waist of his long haired teammate, taking advantage of her distracted state as they continued to laugh at their friends' mishap, and expertly guided Meg around the lump of Lily and James on the stairs. The newly formed pair was still laughing when the door to the large balcony of the tower appeared before them. Black held open the door for Meg in a rare showing of good manners. For some strange reason, Meg felt her cheeks warming, and could only imagine how red they were, as she stepped through the door, giving Black a quick glance as she did. She glanced back to see if Lily and Potter were close behind, but the stairs below were blanketed in darkness and silence. The door shut with a loud bang, making Meg jump and clasp her hand to her chest as her heart dropped to her toes.

Having been witness to several occasions where Black had led anxious and eager girls up these stairs, whispering in their ears, twirling their hair around his finger, his arm reassuringly firm around their waists, just as he had guided her not a moment before, Meg's guard went up as she turned to face her captor.

She felt a burning anger rise in her chest, a volatile mix of fury, disbelief, embarrassment, and insult. She glared at Sirius who stood there so cool, so suave, so self-assured. He leaned against the wall, unaware or unconcerned with the precarious height at which he stood, staring at Meg with a strange intensity behind his stormy grey eyes. He waved to her, beckoning her to join him. Hyperaware of his possible course of action, Meg approached but stood a safe distance away facing out, staring into the black sky littered with tiny dancing flames. Her sense of physical security shattered as Black slid toward her. He leaned back on his elbows against the wall and smirked at Meg. He was slowly removing each of her defenses, and she had no way to stop him.

"That was a pretty smooth move. I always knew you wanted them to get together." Sirius's compliment bounced around in Meg's head for a second before her confused expression was replaced by shocked understanding. She feebly attempted to protest but was distracted by the once-thought platonic hand gently covering her mouth.

"Maybe you don't know it, but you do want them together. He would make her happy, and that's what you want, right?" Sirius asked as if he needed no answer, which Meg realized was true. She sighed in compliance and shook away from his silencing hand.

"Until she figures it out, I can't say anything in his favor. It would be the worst kind of betrayal," Meg said, sharing her secret thoughts for the first time. "I've been waiting for Lily to come to her senses for about six months, if only to stop Potter's annoying Love Campaign." Sirius chuckled at her title for James's attempted courtship, and as she stared back at him, she could see the ideas for banners and buttons racing through his prankster-mind.

"Well, you might not have to wait much longer," Sirius replied in a whisper. He laughed at Meg's suddenly bewildered expression. "I think tonight is the night Lily Evans will start down the path to becoming Lily Potter," Black explained with a haughty nod and wink. Meg shook her head in disbelief and allowed her hysterical laughter to erupt into the silent night. For a moment, Sirius was distracted from this insult by the captivating way Meg's usually caramel-colored hair shined silver and black in the moonlight. He was drawn back to reality by her gasping explanation for her behavior.

"I'm sorry to crush your hopes and dreams Black, but that's just not going to happen," she managed to respond between giggles. When she gained control of her breathing, she realized that Black was and had been looking at her with the most serious expression she'd ever seen on his face.

"You haven't crushed all of my hopes, Meg," he whispered. Meg breathed in deeply in an effort to calm her suddenly racing heart. She realized it was too late to escape the situation, and that, despite her best efforts, she could not think of a single reason not to willingly fall for Black's tricks. She quickly attempted to rationalize her predicament by telling herself that this was how he disarmed girls, how he stripped them of their morals and priorities; by distracting them with outrageous propositions and then moving in for the kill. Sirius moved along the wall, closer to Meg but by the tiniest measurement, looking only at his hands as he approached. When he raised his gaze to meet Meg's once again, the same unfamiliar intensity shining in his gray eyes nearly knocked her off her feet.

"Whoa," she breathed, so quiet she doubted whether she had even said it out loud. Meg leaned toward him, drawn in by Sirius's beauty like a moth to a flame. Nature seemed to freeze around them. There was no wind rustling the leaves of the forest, no nocturnal animals' noise breaking the silence. Moments ago Meg was sure her relationship with Black was purely a friendship, but now her body was inches away from his, and she was doing nothing to stop it; soon mere centimeters separated them, and then there was no space between the two friends at all. Sirius's lips touched Meg's for the briefest moment, barely enough time for her to register that he smelled like cinnamon and Muggle laundry detergent.

With the force of a gale wind the door swung open, torch light flooded the balcony, and Meg jumped away from Sirius like he was the Whomping Willow. She raised her hands to her cheeks, and the heat burned her freezing fingers. Lily stood in the doorway, blocking the light that would have revealed the truth of the situation.

"Meg, let's go," Lily called to her. Her tone revealed just how low Potter had burned her fuse. The urgency and frustration in Lily's voice distracted Meg from the laughter that had replaced the intensity in Black's gaze.

"Al-all right," she answered, drawing herself out of the fog that had invaded her brain when Sirius's lips had touched hers. She chanced a final glance at Black and regretted it immediately. His charming smile had reappeared, and it was obvious he was holding in his bark-like laughter.

"Good night, Meg," he yelled just before the thick wooden door shut, effectively blocking him from sight and hearing, but not from memory.

--

Lily and Meg reached the common room without speaking one word. They continued to the Head's dorm, still in comatose silence. Only after both girls had completed their homework and Meg was making herself comfortable, huddled under her favorite red afghan trying to read Pride and Prejudice, did Lily approach her friend. She climbed onto the couch next to Meg and stared at her until she looked up from her book.

"I have something to tell you," she revealed in a hushed voice. Meg nodded, marked her place in her book and set it aside to wait for Lily to continue, but she didn't. Meg frowned at her obstinate friend, but she still didn't speak.

"What is it Lily?" Meg practically yelled, inadvertently alerting Lily to her disturbed emotional and mental state. Lily tilted her head in confusion at Meg's surprising outburst. Meg sighed and patted Lily's knee as a consolation.

"Sorry," she mumbled, hoping to distract Lily from asking what was wrong with her. "What do you want to tell me?" Meg asked, calming her voice to avoid questioning. Lily glanced around as if to make sure the currently absent Head Boy Potter was not going to pop out from behind a curtain with a large box of chocolates and start scattering them around Lily's feet where they danced and sang, as he had once before in fifth year. Meg resisted the impulse to roll her eyes at her friend's paranoia.

"I know you won't, but you have to promise not to tell anyone," Lily paused, giving Meg a supposedly threatening glare. Meg nodded quickly. Lily's odd behavior had finally caught her curiosity. Meg waited for any sort of response, but none was coming. Just as she was about to explode, Lily locked her gaze and opened her mouth to speak. It seemed like she was fighting the urge to throw up rather than to tell her best friend a secret.

"Alright, here goes. IletPotterkissme," spilled out before Lily clasped her hands over her mouth. Her bright green eyes widened in shock, either at her confession or at the strange expression of mixed horror and amusement on Meg's face. The usually calm and collected blue eyes blinked several times, and Meg closed her gaping mouth.

"You what? You let him kiss you? As in…you gave permission and kissed back?" Meg interrogated, attempting to get more than the bare details out of her embarrassed and easily harassed friend. She bit back the urge to continue firing questions, hoping that Lily might actually answer her question honestly.

"Yes! Keep your voice down please. I don't want the whole school to know, geez," Lily finished in desperate exasperation. Meg fought it, but could not help the bubbly giggles from erupting as a bright, mischievous smile grew on her face. Lily poked her inappropriately giddy friend, trying to halt the annoying giggles and snorts issuing from Meg's wide open trap, but it only made it worse.

"Meg! Meg, come on this is serious! I don't know what to do!" Lily resorted to begging. Meg breathed in deeply and exhaled a long sigh, gaining control of her laughter. She grabbed Lily's shoulders and shook a bit, keeping the wild smile plastered on her face.

"Lily-flower, you know what you have to do. You must admit to yourself and to Potter, soon to be know as James, that you like him," Meg managed to say before bursting into ecstatic giggles again. Lily sighed, grabbed the throw pillow next to her, beat Meg with it and climbed off of the couch. She gathered her books, parchments, quills and ink bottles, turning away from her unhelpful, ridiculing friend.

"You're no help," she muttered before walking to her room and slamming the door shut. Meg buried her face in the sofa cushions, trying to muffle her stubbornly loud giggles. She closed her eyes once she was in control and, after gathering her school things, returned to the girls' dorm for some much-needed sleep.

--

Instead of peaceful rest, Meg found only confusion in her sleep that night and for several nights after. Meg woke four days in a row twisted in her bed sheets and with sweat on her forehead and in the small of her back. Each of these days, she showered, got dressed, went to class, and avoided close contact with Black as best she could, hoping that by going cold turkey, she would rid herself of the dreams. In her sleep, the familiar figure of Sirius Black leapt about in her mind, carefree and amusing, until he was tackled out of sight by a shirtless counterpart whose intense stare never blinked and never turned away.

The Friday after Sirius and Meg's kiss, he and Remus were in the Hospital Wing during her shift. Doing Merlin knows what, Remus had gotten a long, deep cut on his right arm. Poppy allowed Meg to take care of the cut and retired to her office, leaving the three teenagers alone in the vast infirmary.

"This might sting a bit, Remus," Meg warned as she prepared to apply a salve to his cut. Remus shrugged off her warning and smiled up at her, but bit his lip when the salve touched the cut. Meg chuckled and shook her head. Sirius snorted and leaned back in his chair, balancing on two legs.

"Tsk, tsk, Mr. Lupin. No one likes a show-off," Meg said as she set down the salve and glanced in Black's direction. She rolled Remus's sleeve to just below his shoulder where the cut finally ended. She frowned and gave him her best "serious medical situation" look. "Remus, how'd this happen?"

Sirius coughed and squirmed in his seat at the end of the bed putting his chair down on all four legs, but Remus just grinned and whispered, "A Marauder never reveals his secrets."

Meg sighed, knowing she wouldn't get any more information out of him. She finished applying the salve and washed her hands. Then she wrapped Remus's arm and sealed the bandage magically.

"Don't try to remove this before you come back tomorrow. If you do, it won't heal properly," she warned again. Meg loved her internship in the Hospital Wing, but sometimes she felt like an old nanny giving out warnings, cautions, and scoldings. Of course, it didn't help when her patients just grinned and winked at her before hopping off the bed and jogging from the room. Sirius lagged behind his injured friend, hands in his pockets and hair in his eyes.

"Can I help you, Mr. Black?" Meg asked when she finished putting away the materials she'd just used with Remus. She kept her back to him and straightened the sheets of the bed, mussed from Remus sitting on them.

"Oh, I was just wondering how you were doing Meg. I haven't really talked to you in awhile, or rather you haven't talked to me," he said, walking around the end of the bed so that when she looked up, Meg was looking right into the same intense stare from her dreams. She coughed and straightened up, pulling her shoulders back and standing at her full height, only four inches under Sirius's 6'3".

"I'm doing well, thank you. I've just been busy, you know, with work and school," Meg stumbled over her terrible lie. She reached up and checked that her hair was still in its mandatory bun, giving herself time to gain some composure. "If that's all, I think Remus is waiting for you outside." Meg smiled and nodded toward the door.

"Right, well, thanks for helping him out. You did a nice job," Sirius said before turning away and walking out of the infirmary.

When she was sure he was gone, Meg collapsed onto the bed she had just straightened and sighed, "Thanks."


	3. Friends, Fight, and Flight

Friends, Fight, and Flight

"Good morning, Meg," Remus greeted his seatmate cheerfully. She glanced up from her notebook of doodles to return his smile as he dropped his books on their desk. Meg had always considered McGonagall's choice of seating brilliant since it supplied her with the only tolerable Marauder as a partner. She had always liked Peter's sweetness, but his shyness often became annoying, especially since they had known each other for over six years. Plus, his unfounded worshiping of the ground Potter and Black walked on made him even more irritating. She would never have considered Black a good partner since he was lazy, though brilliant, and mischievous, and Potter was only slightly more bearable than his main cohort.

Remus was intelligent, sensible, funny and handsome, in an edgy, rough sort of way thanks to some well-placed scars. His right eyebrow was split in two by an inch long white slash, and his left hand was covered in long, ancient gashes. He had all this and more without the arrogance of a certain swaggering dark haired boy that walked into the classroom with him.

"How are you this morning, dear seat partner?" Meg inquired, being careful not to look at Black too often or for too long. Remus shrugged as he took his place next to Meg.

"I could be better I suppose, but not by much," he smiled and patted Meg's hand where it rested on the desktop. Meg frowned at the red line running from Remus's thumb up to his shoulder beneath his sleeve. He had gotten the bandages removed for the last time this morning, after suffering through having them all weekend, and the wound was healing nicely, but she knew he would never tell her how it had happened. She looked up at him with her "serious medical situation" expression, making Remus laugh, but he stopped abruptly when McGonagall rapped her pointer on her desk to call the class to order.

Being blessed with a talent for and enjoyment of Transfiguration, Meg didn't become bored enough to look around the room when McGonagall gave the class free time to practice transfiguring toothpicks into teapots. When she had trouble at first, Remus offered to help her perfect the wand movement. He stood behind her and extended his arm next to hers, so that it touched every point of Meg's, guiding each slight movement. This helped immensely, and not only did Meg transform her toothpick into a lovely china patterned teapot, but she also was able to enjoy Remus's lovely aroma.

"You smell wonderful, Remus," Meg blurted out. She blushed as she realized how forward and cheesy that sounded. Remus laughed heartily at her embarrassment.

"Thanks, love. I was wondering if that soap was going to work or not," he continued to laugh as he stepped away from her and gave her a pat on the back. Meg was able to smile despite her humiliation and continued to practice the wand movement.

The class came to an end, and Meg gathered her books. She was about to say goodbye to Remus when she noticed Black standing a few feet away presumably waiting for Remus. Something was amiss. She felt a cold shiver rush down her spine as she realized Black was staring her down with a fierce glare. She inhaled slowly and glanced at Remus who had caught Sirius's gaze. Meg silenced her gasp as she realized that Black wasn't looking at her at all. His hateful stare was aimed at Remus. A frown was drawn on Remus's face, an unusual expression for the normally cheerful young man. He tore his gaze away from his friend and glanced at Meg. His frown quickly became an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Meg. It's his 'time of the month', if you know what I mean," he explained, a humorless laugh broke the tension surrounding them. He added a wink and a heartfelt smile, then walked over to his friend and patted him on the shoulder, guiding him out of the room while talking in hushed tones of anger and urgency.

Meg swung her bag onto her shoulder and walked over to Lily who had observed the scene from her desk at the front of the room. She was frowning as Meg approached.

"What was that all about?" she asked as they moved towards the door. They exited the room, and Meg glanced down the hall at Black and Remus's backs.

She sighed and turned to Lily with a hopeless expression. "Me, I think."

--

It had been one week since Sirius had kissed Meg in the Astronomy Tower. Their lips had barely touched, but the event was still plaguing her mind. She had decided that she had enjoyed it, which scared her, but that it had been a one time thing. While she had hoped to never disclose this information to anyone, Meg realized that she would have to tell Lily. It wasn't that it was important to her. She had simply deduced that if Lily somehow found out before she was able to tell her, she would throttle Meg with her own ponytail. Though four days had passed since making the fateful decision, each full of opportunities, Meg had so far been unable to muster up enough courage to tell her friend. She had decided that Lily would either die or kill her when she finally found out and was trying to put off those events until the last possible moment.

An upside to waiting to tell Lily was that Meg had managed to learn much more about the Potter kiss since the original confession. She realized that once Lily knew that she had kissed Black, there would be no more details divulged about Potter. So far, each question she had asked had elicited a new detail including Lily admitting that she not only did not regret the kiss, but that she had been thinking about it a lot since it had happened.

"Meg, let's say for the sake of argument that I did like Potter, as you keep insisting. How could I tell him now, after all these years of telling him to bugger off?" Lily asked, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice. Meg sat down at the Gryffindor table and took a sip of coffee to hide her large smile.

"What do you mean? He would be ecstatic! He wouldn't care if you just suddenly changed your mind. That's why you should tell him as soon as possible," Meg added as an afterthought. She was sure that Lily was trying to form an argument against her logic as she downed half of her orange juice at once.

"I said 'for the sake of argument'. I did not say I actually like him, but nice try Meg'" Lily smiled brightly at her before taking a large bite of scrambled eggs. Meg laughed, scooped a large helping of eggs onto her plate and reached for a blueberry muffin. A large, familiar hand grabbed it just before Meg's fingers closed around it. She frowned at Black as he sat down across from her. Remus and Potter sat on either side of him, both flashing cheerful smiles at the unhappy girls. Black's expression matched Meg's but only for a moment. His roguish grin spread across his face as he offered her the muffin.

"Gee, thanks," she responded as she grabbed the muffin and took a large bite. Remus muffled a chuckle at the sight of Meg trying to chew such a large bite. Sirius sent a ferocious glare his way, but it only increased Remus's mirth. Remus snorted and Meg burst out laughing at his ridiculous attempt to cover it up with a fake cough. Muffin sprayed from her mouth, Lily shrieked and Potter laughed at the ensuing chaos, and Remus continued laughing.

Sirius had little bits of muffin on his face. Meg swallowed what was left in her mouth and attempted to wipe the food from his face with her napkin. He grabbed it away from her. He was practically shaking with fury as he wiped the spittle from his face. Meg sat down in her seat and glanced around for support. Remus's chuckles had died down, and Lily and Potter had recovered from their shock, when an unexpected scoop of jam flew from Sirius's spoon and landed precisely between Meg's baby blues. She gasped as the sticky mess began to dribble down her nose. Remus exploded into laughter once again as Lily and James tried to keep other people from noticing the tiny food fight.

Meg glared at Sirius. It was easy to wipe away the crumbs of muffin from his face, but any attempt to wipe away the jam without water would leave sticky residue all over her face. Meg breathed deeply once, twice, and then reached for the eggs. Sirius chuckled in disbelief.

"You wouldn't," he insisted as she raised the spoonful of eggs. She smirked and tilted her head in feigned innocence.

"Wouldn't I?" she retorted as the eggs flew from the spoon. There was an arch to the fling, sending the eggs up and then down on top of Sirius's head. Lily and Potter broke the sudden silence with their laughter. Remus started up again with one glance at Sirius's expression. Sirius shook his head, sending egg flying to the floor and table. His mischievous smile spread across his gorgeous face as he reached for a pitcher of maple syrup. Before he could lift it more than two inches, a thin hand wrapped around his wrist and forced the pitcher back into its place on the table. The laughter had drowned out the unmistakable click-clack of McGonagall's shiny black pumps. One look at her face, the practically nonexistent line of her mouth, the daggers shooting from her eyes, and the echoes of laughter died a short, painless death.

"Mr. Black, Miss Jackson, would you do me the courtesy of not destroying the hall please?" she said in a normal volume voice, but her tone conveyed every "or else" imaginable. Meg and Sirius nodded their heads in compliance, Meg sheepishly and without looking at the professor, Black with a bright smirk on his face.

McGonagall released an exasperated sigh and walked away muttering something like "Bloody teenagers. No respect at all!" making Meg wonder just when the thirty-something year old professor became such a party pooper. Black, Remus, and Potter began to laugh once McGonagall had returned to the high table. Meg glared at the trio but mostly at Sirius.

"Why is that funny? Do you realize how much trouble we could have- Oh wait. I forgot who I was talking to," she finished as she breathed a sigh much like McGonagall's. Lily waved her wand at her friend's messy forehead, clearing away the jam and its residue. Meg flashed Lily a small smile of thanks before standing up.

"See you boys in class."

--

The bright sunlight had dazzled Meg's eyes when she had first stepped onto the grounds earlier that morning. Now the rays seemed to dance cheerfully over the hills and distant snowy mountain tops surrounding the castle. A cool breeze foretelling winter's rapid approach rustled through the brightly colored leaves throughout the Forbidden Forest. Meg occasionally found herself gazing at the still glass surface of the lake, subconsciously waiting for the giant squid to emerge.

Her notes and various essays were spread before her in a semicircle, each piece of parchment held down by paperweight charms. She absentmindedly flitted her feather quill under the end of her nose, wrinkling the appendage when it tickled. She was drawn from her mental search for a synonym for "destroy" to use in her History of Magic essay by an eager and familiar voice calling her name. She tore her gaze from the shimmering surface of the lake to scan the grounds. Meg smiled when she saw Remus quickly approaching from the direction of the lake wearing a large smile. She waited patiently for him to join her on the grassy knoll she had chosen for her study spot. He arrived and flopped down next to her, stretching out amongst the books, papers and a few broken quills.

"Hello there," she greeted him returning to her previous attempt to improve her diction.

"Hi! What are you working on?" Remus asked, stretching his neck to see what Meg had written. Noticing his attempt, Meg moved closer to the shaggy blonde Marauder to make it easier for him to see.

"Ah, yes. The dreaded History of Magic essay is due Monday. I forgot," he commented nonchalantly after assessing the content of her essay. Meg's grin became a frown at his carefree response.

"How could you forget? This is supposed to be one of our biggest grades yet," she asked, not bothering to hide the shock and slight anger in her voice. He smiled wickedly and chuckled at her discomfort. Remus twisted the end of her quill and blew away the tiny feathers on his fingers, sending them into the playful breeze.

"Well, fortunately I am blessed with brilliance and I turned it in yesterday," he laughed at Meg's frustration and increased shock at this revelation. Her lips tightened into a frighteningly McGonagall-like line and she flicked his forehead in retaliation for his over eagerness.

"Ouch! It's not my fault you're a procrastinator," he said in an attempt to defend himself. He rubbed the red spot on his forehead and averted his gaze from the offended glare Meg shot at him.

"I am not procrastinating. It's Saturday afternoon and I'm doing revisions! I was finished yesterday, but unlike some people, I don't turn assignments in early just to please the professor!" In a moment of childish weakness, she stuck her tongue out at her friend.

"Please Binns? You're joking, right?" Remus laughed, falling from his propped up elbow and dramatically rolling on the ground. Meg rolled her eyes at his silliness, but couldn't hold back her laughter for long and joined Remus in his merriment. She sighed in satisfaction and returned to her essay while Remus continued to laugh almost uncontrollably. She chuckled at his frivolity, which stopped abruptly as Remus sat up and cleared his throat.

"Meg, I have something to ask you," he began, glancing at her for permission to continue. She nodded and continued to stare at her essay, only half-listening to her friend.

"Alright, so we've all been friends for a long time, yes?" Remus asked. The answer was obvious, but he apparently wanted an answer before he would continue. Meg nodded once again in answer to this silly question. "Right, and no one except James has ever really mentioned having feelings for another friend."

A horrific thought crossed Meg's mind. All self control went out the window for a moment. Her quill dropped from her hand as she surveyed her longtime friend and preferred study partner. She had never suspected that he harbored feelings for her, but after the Sirius situation, she was unsure of her instincts or people-reading skills. Suppressing the fears of ruined friendship and awkward seating arrangements, Meg looked up from her essay and stared at Remus, or rather at the top of his head. He was focused on a blade of grass between his feet and would not look at her.

"What are you trying to say Remus?" she asked, keeping her voice calm and uninterested. She was sure that if he suspected that she suspected his meaning he would chicken out. Remus finally tore his gaze from the grass and looked up at Meg but immediately looked away towards the lake. She slowly followed his gaze and was able to make out a shockingly familiar silhouette walking the shoreline.

"Peter? Peter likes me? No! Remus, you must be joking. He can't be. That would ruin everything!" Meg jumped up from the ground, preparing to list any and all reasons why she didn't and never would have those sorts of feelings for Peter Pettigrew. Remus quickly joined her and grabbed her shoulders, gently shaking her from her hysteria.

"Meg! Take a deep breath, alright? Peter does not have feelings for you," he explained in a calming voice. She inhaled deeply as directed and released it slowly. She glanced from the calm, slightly amused boy in front of her to the sweet, chubby boy in the distance and back again.

"Are you certain?" Meg asked, unable to keep her voice from shaking as she spoke the simple but all-important question.

"Yes, I'm sure. Gosh, conceited much? I'm not here to reveal anyone's secret longing for you. I'm here to ask you about Lily," Remus answered as he sat back down.

"Ask me what about Lily?" Remus's expression revealed the answer to this question and his opinion of Meg's intelligence for even asking it. "Right, of course, I should have known. Honestly, I'm not quite sure how she feels about him because she's not sure how she feels about him, but she did present me with a hypothetical situation that involved her liking him and revealing it to him a couple days ago," Meg rattled off her answer cheerfully. Remus's mischievous smile appeared as he hopped up from his lounging position.

"Excellent. That will give Sirius and me the evidence to convince Prongs to tone it down for a while. Do you agree that if he cuts down the proposals, it will give her time to figure things out?" Taking a short moment to think over this idea, Meg realized that she could make no promises. Anything was possible with a fiery redhead of Lily's intelligence and stubbornness. Despite her uncertainties, she assured Remus that it would be Potter's best prospect.

"That's great, Meg. Thank you so much!" he exclaimed before swooping down to peck her lightly on the cheek. Meg's cheeks flushed a bright red under her slight tan, while the color drained from Remus's face as he straightened up again. "Oh, God. Don't mention that to Sirius, ok? He's already angry with me about-" Remus stopped when he registered Meg's expression of utter bewilderment.

"You don't know what I'm talking about do you?" He asked quickly, surveying the young woman with a squinty glance. She shook her head, but her heart was beating furiously against her chest at the mention of Sirius's possible jealous fury.

"Alright, then just forget all about the last two minutes and good luck with your essay." Remus squared his shoulders and saluted Meg, hoping to distract her from the awkward situation by making it stranger. He turned from her and ran towards the lake.


	4. Confrontations and Confessions

Confrontations and Confessions

"What did you and Moony talk about this afternoon?" Sirius broke the silence of the evening with his question. Meg rolled her eyes, thankful that the growing darkness concealed her irritation with the hunky Marauder walking next to her. Dinner had left the friends too full to enjoy sitting around, so they had embarked on an evening walk through the grounds. Meg had consented to stay behind and walk with Remus and Sirius while James and Lily took off ahead of them. The few minutes spent outside had consisted of a few theories about what the two Heads were discussing and then Sirius's out-of-the-blue inquiry. Remus glanced up from the path the trio was following and caught Meg's eye. He frantically wiggled his eyebrows at her attempting to remind her of their agreement made that afternoon. She had gotten the message from his initial eye-contact and would have begun giggling at his hilarious facial expression if not for the urgency in his gaze.

"We talked about Potter and Lily. Didn't he tell you?" she answered Sirius's question with her own, widening her eyes in an attempted façade of innocence and confusion.

"Yes, he did, but I thought maybe he had left something out," Black explained, glancing at his friend. Remus dropped his gaze back to his feet and kicked a rock in his path, desperately hoping that Sirius would stop glaring at him sometime in the near future.

"Well, that was a silly thought. Why would he possibly leave anything out from a conversation that affects all of our happiness?" Meg asked. Sirius pulled away from his stare of fury at Remus and shrugged his shoulders, sending her a grin. Meg sighed quietly and kicked the same rock as Remus, sending it flying from the path. She had hoped to uncover the mysterious feud that seemed to be brewing between the two friends.

"Yeah, Padfoot? Why would I leave something out and why would I be keeping it from you specifically?" Remus asked pointedly, sending his own fierce glare at Sirius. Meg frowned, catching the hint of a double meaning but completely clueless as to what it was. Black's usually cool composure broke as his cheeks flushed in the soft sunlight. Meg stopped walking and placed her hands on her hips, this usually helped to intimidate boys by giving the impression of a pissed off mother. She tapped the toe of her boot impatiently as she addressed the two secret-keepers.

"Alright, I want to know what is going on between you two. Now," her voice held the force of her command, but her eyes proved just how angry she was. Remus turned to his twitchy and uncomfortable friend who was attempting to avoid both Meg and Remus's gazes. She waited while Remus bore a hole into the side of Sirius's head with his glare, and Sirius continued to study the grass around his feet.

"Fine, if you guys are going to keep me out of the loop, then why should I stay here where I'm obviously in your way? I'll just be going," she huffed and turned to walk back towards the castle. She paused as a strong hand encircled her wrist. She sighed and smiled at her powers of persuasion before turning around. Her smile disappeared as she took in the surprisingly nervous-looking Sirius Black.

"Black?" she muttered in awe as his anxious expression cleared making way for a grin. Meg glanced over Black's shoulder to see Remus striding away with a bit of a skip to his step. Black slipped his fingers from around her wrist to around her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. Meg stared at him in amazement and confusion. He squeezed gently, his grin growing to a smile and she automatically squeezed back, not thinking about the meaning of the gesture, only how oddly warm and comforting Sirius's large hand was. Some small part of her mind registered that parts of his palm were rough from holding a broom and bat for so many years before she ripped her hand from his grasp.

"I don't understand," she said as she stepped away from him. Sirius grinned at her and ran his hand through his hair. He turned away from her and stared in the direction of the forest.

"I hardly understand it myself, but Meg, I realized recently that there's something about you that…well to put it simply, drives me crazy." He faced her again and sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.

Meg rolled her eyes and scoffed at his accidental insult. "Gee, thanks, Black. I'll try to be less irritating from now on." Meg sighed and walked past Sirius, shoving him aside. Sirius reached for her hand as she walked by. She stopped, giving him a chance to strengthen his grip around her thinner, though similarly calloused fingers. She realized how silly it was to allow Black to employ his usual tricks, but despite her mental commands not to, her heart started to beat furiously against her chest.

"Meg, if I can't be with you like this, I think I'll go crazy." His deep voice was layered with emotions that Meg had always assumed he didn't have or at least repressed. Sirius closed his eyes as he took a step closer to her. His hold on her hands was firm, but gentle. Meg spared a moment to worry about her hands being sweaty and gross while his still felt comfortably warm. She supposed she was meant to respond in some giddy or even joking manner to this statement, but, as the breeze changed direction, her thoughts became centered on the cinnamony sweet scent of Sirius's shirt or possibly his hair. She wasn't sure which.

"Be with me like what, Black, in the middle of the grounds, in the evening, kind of freaking me out? Because guess what! You are with me like that right now." Meg stumbled back a step and pulled her hand from Sirius's loosened hold. He took a step, closing the distance between them that Meg had fought so hard to create. She rubbed her forehead and then moved her hands to the small curls at the end of her ponytail hanging over her shoulder down to her belly button. Sirius touched her shoulder and Meg looked over her shoulder and smiled. "Sorry, that was a bit too much huh?" She chuckled and turned to face him. He cupped her cheek in his hand, running his thumb along her cheek bone, slipping his fingers down her jaw and her neck to her ponytail. Meg's breath came in short gasps, but her gaze was steady, focused on Sirius's eyes when he looked up at her and on his thick black lashes when he was watching his fingers as they moved down her hair. He twirled one of the curls around his forefinger when he reached the end. His other fingers brushed the fabric of her white button down shirt. Meg gasped again, the muscles in her stomach tightening. Sirius looked up from his fingers and smiled at her.

"Kiss me," he whispered, leaning in and resting his forehead against Meg's. A moment passed while she absorbed this request – or was it a command? – and then she gasped in astonishment as, once again, Sirius pressed his lips against hers.

--

"Are you dating Black?" Lily's voice ripped Meg from her bewildered stupor. She raised her gaze from the bowl of porridge in front of her and stared at Lily. Her red hair was piled on top of her head, spilling down in several places, there were large purple bags under her eyes, her tie wasn't tightened and the top buttons of her shirt weren't fastened.

Meg scrunched her nose and tilted her head as she surveyed her friend's appearance. "What's wrong with you?" She took a bite of her untouched breakfast and waited for Lily's reply.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with ME?" Lily's voice rose and cracked on the last word. Meg nodded her head and took another bite. Lily slammed her books on the table next to her plate and flopped onto the bench across from Meg. "Meg, I ask you if you are dating Sirius Black and you ask what's wrong with me. Are you completely deranged?" Lily poured herself a glass of pumpkin juice and drained half of it before Meg attempted to answer her accusation.

"No, I'm not deranged, Lily-flower. I simply noticed that you look a little frazzled this morning, and you are never frazzled, so something must be wrong." Meg shrugged her shoulders and took another bite.

Lily rolled her eyes, grabbed a muffin and began to butter it. "Don't call me that! Nothing is wrong with me, and you still haven't answered my question." She scooped some jam from the jar and held her spoon in a menacing reenactment of Sirius's attack on Meg from Saturday. Meg screeched and held her hands up in front of her face.

"What are you talking about? I answered your question! I'm not deranged, but clearly you are!" She ducked under the table as Lily let the jam fly from her spoon. Meg sat up and looked for where or rather on whom the jam had landed. She held back a snort and spun to face the table as Severus Snape reached up to feel for what had smacked him in the back of the head. Lily leaned close to the table, hiding behind Meg's long torso.

"Good shot, Lil," Meg giggled and took a bite of her porridge. Lily sighed and sat up, pulling the ribbon from her hair. She shook her hair out behind her and tied the ribbon around it. Meg shuddered and covered her porridge with her hand while she took another bite. "That is so unsanitary. Why didn't you do your hair upstairs?"

"It's not unsanitary, my hair is perfectly clean, and I didn't do it upstairs because Alice- Wait! You still haven't answered my original question!" Lily pointed at Meg and squinted her eyes.

"What question was that, love?" Remus slid onto the bench next to Meg and took a sip of her coffee. "Ugh! That's awful. I thought it was tea! Why are you drinking coffee?"

Meg laughed and took a sip from her over-large mug. "Because it's tasty, silly," she laughed as Remus made another face, sticking out his tongue and shaking his head. Sirius took the open spot on Meg's other side, running his fingers down her arm and placing his hand on her knee despite her warning glare, and James flopped down next to Lily, who did not screech and slap him as per usual, while Peter slid in next to him. Meg raised her eyebrow and glared at Lily before glancing at James and wiggling her eyebrow. Lily shook her head and did the same to Meg, glancing at Sirius. Meg rolled her eyes and took another bite of porridge. Lily pursed her lips and raised her chin. Meg's eyes widened as she realized what Lily was about to do. She shook her head, mouthing "no" to her friend.

"So," Lily started, getting everyone's attention, "are you two dating?" She pointed at Meg and Sirius and then leaned on her hand, pasting a too-innocent smile on her face.

"No," Meg answered quickly. She looked at Sirius who shrugged his shoulders and took a bite out of his sausage link.

"Nope," he said as he chewed. He squeezed Meg's knee, and she jumped, bumping into Remus.

"Sorry, Remus," she said patting his shoulder while she smacked Sirius's hand under the table, which he moved into his own lap.

"No worries, love," Remus smiled and took another sip of Meg's coffee. "Nope, still disgusting." She shoved him and he began to laugh, returning the easy atmosphere to the breakfast table and killing Lily's planned interrogation.

--

Meg pulled her copy of today's Daily Prophet out of her bag as she approached the Fat Lady's portrait. She turned to the funnies without glancing at the front page and gave the password before she had really reached the portrait.

"Tragic, isn't it?" the Fat Lady said as she swung open. Meg stopped and walked around the frame to look at the lady.

"What's tragic?" Meg asked, hitching her bag up onto her shoulder and placing her hands on her hips.

The Fat Lady pointed at the newspaper in Meg's hand. "The attack, love. Didn't you see the front page?" Meg shook her head and flipped through the pages of her paper, which were horribly out of order from her search for the comics. "Oh, dear, you'd better go sit down before you read that," the Fat Lady said as she pointed toward the portrait hole and Meg nodded, following her suggestion.

She shuffled through the sections, tossing the Financial and Life Style on the floor, until she reached the front page. The air left Meg's lungs as she read the headline. She stumbled back and reached out for a chair, but instead collided with a body. She looked behind her and met Sirius's playful gaze.

"Want to waste our free period today? Well, everyday, but you know what I mean," he laughed and patted Meg's shoulder. She drew in a ragged breath and pushed away from him, taking several uncontrolled steps until she fell and landed on her knees on the floor. "Meg? Meg!" Sirius rushed over to her, squatting beside her and taking her face in his hands. "What's wrong Meg? Come on, look at me."

He gently shook her head until Meg brought her gaze from the newspaper in her lap to his face. "What happened, Meg? Are you hurt?" She laughed, cackled almost, and shook her head. She wrapped her hands around his wrists, pulling his hands away from her face, and let go, her hands falling into her lap. She picked up the newspaper and held it out to Sirius. He frowned and took it from her, standing up and walking away.

"57 Killed in Attack on London Underground," Sirius read from the front page. Meg hiccupped and wiped under her eyes though no tears had fallen. He turned back and squatted next to her again. "Meg – I – I know this is hard, but you can't fall apart every time there's an attack. You've got to stay strong, or else they'll win." He placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed, flashing her a smile.

Meg rolled her eyes and pushed his hand off of her. She shoved him back, making him fall over, and stood up. "Shut up, Black! Just shut up! It's not just another attack. You don't understand. You don't have to worry about your family being hurt by these monsters because they are your family!"

Sirius stood and walked over to her. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "They're not my family! James is my family! His parents, Remus, Peter and their families, they are my family. I have just as much to worry about as you do." Sirius squeezed her shoulders and let go, pushing himself away from her and walking away towards the stairs to the boy's dorms.

"Sirius!" Meg ran after him. She caught up and grabbed his arm, spinning him around to face her. "I'm sorry. That was inconsiderate. I know how much you hate them." She sighed and let her hand drop from his arm. "I just-I don't know how to deal with what's happening. I'm sorry." Meg walked over to the east window and lifted herself onto its broad ledge.

Sirius looked up the stairs then followed her to the window and sat beside her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"You don't really strike me as one for deep conversation, Black," Meg smiled and looked out the window.

"I can be deep! Ask Moony, I am a great listener – when I need to be," he said, leaning back against the glass and catching Meg's gaze.

She sighed and shook her head. "If you insist…" Sirius nodded and Meg rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I guess I'll let you into my personal life. I'm not an only child, like everyone thinks." Meg smiled and glanced at Sirius, "Are you sure you want to hear my sad tale?"

"It doesn't sound too sad, yet. I think I can handle it," Sirius smiled and patted her knee before slipping his hand into hers. Meg shook her head and pulled her hand away.

"My mom died in one of the first attacks, right before I got my letter to Hogwarts. I've lived with my grandparents since then. My grandfather is a Muggle and grandma is a witch," Meg paused and nodded her head when Sirius tilted his head in question.

"Ok, sorry, but what does this have to do with anything?" he asked.

"Stop interrupting and maybe I can get to the point," she smiled and shook her head. "I have an older brother, William. He would be twenty-four now, but I don't know."

"You don't know what?" Sirius asked, twirling his wand between his fingers like a drumstick.

"Whether or not he's alive," Meg sighed and glanced at Sirius. He stopped twirling his wand and looked at Meg. "Sounding sad yet?" She chuckled and shrugged her shoulders. "It's not a big deal really. I almost wish he were dead. It'd be better than what he was doing the last time I saw him."

"Which was?" Sirius ask, restarting the twirling.

"Training to be a Death Eater," Meg whispered, leaning her elbows on her knees and holding her head in her hands.

"What? Is that all? Join the club!" Sirius jumped off of the window ledge and threw his arms open in a welcoming gesture. Meg stared at him, speechless. "Sorry, not the reaction you were expecting?" Meg shook her head and turned, letting her legs hang over the ledge and leaning against the glass. Sirius stood in front of her, placing his hands on her knees. "My little brother Regulus seems to be heading down that path, too."

Meg sighed, "I guess I underestimated your ability to have a deep conversation." She laughed and shook her head.

"It's alright. I'll forgive you someday," Sirius smiled and cupped his hand under Meg's chin, tilting her face up. "Don't worry. I can keep a secret."

"Obviously," Meg answered. "So, does Remus know your shameful secret too?"

"Too? Remus knows about your brother?" he asked. He stepped away from Meg, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Of course. He's my friend, Sirius," Meg answered slowly, unsure of why he was reacting this way.

"What? And I'm not?"

"You didn't need to know. You're my teammate, not my best friend." Meg leapt from the sill and walked over to him. He turned away from her as she approached. She rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "Sirius, I only tell people I really trust. I didn't know if I could trust you. I'm still not entirely sure if I can." Sirius turned and glared down at her. Meg stepped back and looked at the carpet.

"You don't know if you can trust me, Meg? How can you say that?" He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair, growling and turning away from her.

She reached out to touch his shoulder, but drew back her hand and crossed her arms across her chest. "Because until today, I've never seen you take anything seriously. Everything's a joke with you or inspiration for a prank! I'm not going to spill my guts to some jerk who just wants a good laugh!" Meg finished in a huff. She turned away from him, fighting to control her breathing.

"How would you know if I've ever taken anything seriously?" Sirius asked, turning around and walking over to Meg. She looked over her shoulder and frowned. "You don't know me as well as you'd like to think, Margaret!"

She turned to face him, keeping her arms crossed. "Well whose fault is that, you selfish, chauvinistic, prig? You've kept me at a distance for six years and now you suddenly want me to be your best friend slash little play thing? That's not the kind of relationship I want! That's why Remus is my best friend, not you!"

"Remus again! If Remus is so important to you, why don't you go 'spill your guts' to him. Tell him what a jerk I am! See how he reacts!" Sirius shouted and stormed up the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

"I don't need to! He already knows you're an ass!" she shouted, hoping he could still hear her.

* * *

Ok, so this is a reworked chapter and I'm much happier with it. The last version kind of put me in a corner and was crap to boot, so here you go. I hope it's enjoyable. Any and all comments are welcome and appreciated.


	5. Dates, Dinner, Disaster

Dates, Dinner, Disaster

Meg screeched and ran from the common room. She stomped down the halls, heading toward the library where she knew she would find Remus spending his free period in a productive manner. She broke into a run as she turned the next corner, pumping her arms next to her, her heart rate accelerating. She slid to a stop outside the library doors and took a deep breath. She pulled open the door and entered, already scanning the front room for Remus.

She found him in the west private study room, leaning over a large tome, his left hand in his hair while his right ran across the page. Meg smiled and cleared her throat. Remus's head flew up in surprise, but a smile spread across his face as he took in his visitor.

"Hello there, Meg. What brings you to the library during your free period? Shouldn't you be off wasting your time?" He laughed as she walked over to his table and flopped down in the chair next to him. She tried to brighten her smile, but her lip began quivering. "Whoa, what's wrong?" Remus dropped his quill and pulled his chair closer to Meg's, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

Meg shrugged and sniffled. "I—told Sirius—about Will, and he was great. He understood, but then he flipped out when I told him that you knew, and he was just being so stupid!" The tears that had been building since she'd seen the front page of the _Daily Prophet_ now spilled down Meg's cheeks. She sniffled again, and wiped the tears from her face, but new ones soon replaced the old. Remus pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed under Meg's eyes. She forced a smile and took it from him. "Thanks, Remus."

He shrugged off her gratitude and sighed, "I know Sirius can be—confusing, but he means well. He just has trouble expressing how he really feels sometimes. He didn't exactly have a nurturing childhood."

"Oh, I don't care! I don't want to talk about him anymore, especially not if you're going to defend him," Meg said, sitting up straight and wiping the last tears from her cheeks. Remus began to respond but decided it would be better to let her get it out of her system. "Those are the last tears that I ever cry because of Sirius Black." She sniffled and handed Remus his handkerchief. "Let's talk about something cheerful."

"Like what?" Remus asked as he waved his wand over his hankie, drying it, before shoving it back into his pocket.

"I don't know. Anything," Meg shrugged. She reached out and ruffled Remus's hair, resettling it over his forehead the way she liked it. "There, much better," she smiled and pulled back her hand, but Remus caught it and held it between them, staring at their hands together.

"Meg, I know you're probably fed up with guys right now, but if you want a distraction, I'd be more than happy to," he faltered and looked up at her with a small grin. "Well, there's a Hogsmeade trip this weekend, and if you want, we could go together."

"Remus, I'd like to but—wouldn't that make things more difficult between you and Sirius?" Meg asked, squeezing the warm, slightly shaking hand of her friend.

"So, you finally figured it out, eh?" Remus laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "Sirius can handle himself, and right now, you're the friend who needs me more."

"Remus," Meg sighed and smiled, "You are perfectly perfect. Has anyone ever told you that?"

"Every so often," Remus laughed and kissed Meg's hand before letting go and turning back to his book. "Now, if you don't mind Miss Jackson, I was actually doing work." He waved his hand through the air, shooing her.

"Oh, come on, Remus. You can write your…" she looked at the tome on the table for the first time and laughed, "Defense paper that's due in three weeks the weekend before like normal people. Right now, I want to go for a walk on the grounds, and like you said, I need you!" She grabbed his hands and pulled him from his chair. Remus laughed and grabbed his coat from the back of his chair while Meg pulled him from the room.

Though he was now walking by consent, Meg would not let go of his hands and insisted on walking in front of him, pulling him behind her like a child. He laughed and received a glare from the librarian, who he knew expected better from him. He nodded his apology as he was dragged through the doors into the hall.

"Meg, I'm coming willingly! You don't have to pull my arms out of the socket," he laughed and pulled back, catching Meg off guard. She fell forward onto Remus, who wrapped his arms around her to hold her up. Meg began laughing so hard that she had to continue to rely on Remus's support to keep her upright.

Sirius came around the corner and was confronted with this scene: a giggling Meg pressed against Remus with her arms flung around his neck while his arms were wrapped around her waist as he smiled at her. Sirius growled under his breath and turned on his heel, retreating down the hall.

Hearing footsteps, Remus looked up and caught a glimpse of his tall, shaggy-haired friend walking away. He helped Meg regain her balance and turned her in the opposite direction, pushing her down the hall.

Meg frowned and looked over their shoulders, "Remus, outside is _that_ way, love."

Remus smiled and shook his head, "Trust me, we don't want to go that way right now."

"Alright, if you say so," Meg nodded and replaced her arm around Remus's waist. "Well, let's go the long way then." They began walking down the hall, and Meg started chatting about what they should do that Saturday in Hogsmeade. Remus smiled and nodded, adding his own suggestions, and chose to ignore her searching glance over her shoulder as they turned the corner at the end of the hall.

--

Meg and Remus managed to make it through Friday afternoon without informing anyone of their date for Saturday. No one mentioned it if they thought that they were spending even more time with each other than usual or that Sirius seemed to be especially aloof whenever the pair was in his company. Meg had been hoping to make it all the way through the trip to Hogsmeade without disclosing the details of the outing. She and Remus had agreed that because it wasn't a romantic date, it wasn't really any of their friends' business if they were specifically going to Hogsmeade together. Lily and the other Marauders would make a bigger deal of the date than necessary, and it would probably cause problems for everyone, so it was to remain a secret.

This was the plan until Friday evening at dinner when Sirius strolled into the Great Hall well after the start of the meal with a sixth year Hufflepuff clinging to his left arm. Remus and Meg exchanged a glance and an eye roll before watching Sirius detach the girl from his arm only to attack himself to her face.

Lily mumbled, "I've just lost my appetite," and threw her fork down onto her plate. Meg giggled and stole a bite of Lily's scalloped potatoes much to the red head's displeasure. She gasped and huffed before smacking her friend's arm. "I only meant for the moment! I'm going to finish my dinner once Sirius lets that poor girl catch her breath. It's disgusting how he just drags them along and then drops them without a moment's notice. I mean, really, does he expect to find happiness that way?"

Sirius dropped onto the bench across from Lily, Meg and Remus from out of nowhere, apparently having finished with his snog during Lily's rant. He smiled and began serving large helpings of everything onto his plate. "Actually, Lily-flower, I do find quite a bit of happiness in my romances. You might try it some time—romance, I mean. I'm sure James would gladly volunteer. Eh, Prongs?" There was a slight darkness to Sirius's tone that made Meg glare at him across the roast beef and potatoes. He nudged James's elbow making him drop his fork as he glanced up at Lily in shock and embarrassment.

"No thank you," Lily muttered almost too low to be heard. James dropped his gaze back to his dinner plate, adding defeat to his embarrassment.

Before she could find the right come back to defend her friend, Remus's hand slipped onto her knee and gave it a calming pat. "Calm down, Sirius. Have some pudding," he added with a smile and a wave towards the dessert bows and plattersl that had just appeared on the table.

"Keep your suggestions to yourself, Lupin," Sirius snapped. His grey gaze snapped to Remus in an angry glare. Remus maintained his calm expression and nodded his assent. He knew better than to take the bait, but others at the table did not. Meg growled softly in her throat and glared at Sirius. When he glanced at Meg, his glare changed to one of confusion. Despite the rude remarks Sirius had been throwing at Remus all week, Meg had refrained from confronting him. Now she let her irritation reach its peak and let loose.

"Maybe if you took a few of Remus's suggestions you wouldn't be acting like such a prig now, Sirius," she said, keeping her stare fixed on Sirius's eyes.

A spark of anger flared in his gaze as he flicked it back and forth between Meg and Remus. His eyes settled on Meg and hardened in determination. "Because Remus can be trusted, right Meg?" He glanced at Remus for a second, then refocused on Meg, a smug smirk on his face now. "But, of course, if I weren't such a prig, then you wouldn't have your nice little date to look forward to tomorrow. Would you, Meg?"

Meg swallowed down the sudden nervousness rising in her stomach. Lily snorted and shook her head, "Like she'd ever go out with you, Sirius. Meg is right; you should take Remus's advice and just eat your dinner." She rolled her eyes and continued to eat her potatoes. Meg sighed, wishing Lily had just kept her mouth shut, though she was touched at her friend's loyalty.

"Oh, that's not the date I meant, Lily," Sirius said, looking over at Remus, who was shaking his head slowly. Meg glanced at Remus and caught the unfamiliar anger in his dark brown eyes. She sighed and leaned on her elbows on the table, holding her head in her hands.

"What are you talking about, Sirius?" Lily asked. She glanced over at Meg for an answer and saw Remus's hand rubbing small circles on Meg's back. She frowned and looked back to Sirius. "You mean..." Lily glanced over at Meg and then to Remus, her frown growing with each passing glance between them.

Meg sat up and looked at Lily. "I would have told you…eventually. We agreed not to tell anyone, Lily. I swear I would have told you."

"Wait a second! What's going on here? Are you two dating?" James burst in, finally recovered from his earlier embarrassment.

Remus sighed and shook his head. "No, mate. It's not like that."

"Yeah, right," Sirius huffed and rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest.

Meg growled low in her throat again and stood up quickly, surprising everyone around them. "That _is_ right, Sirius. It's not a romantic date. Remus understood how upset I was the other day and offered to lift my spirits this weekend. You're too much of an idiot and a player to think that someone might just care about another person and not just want to score!" Meg's chest heaved with the angry breaths she was struggling to draw. She slammed her fists on the table, drawing even more attention to her outburst. She stepped over the bench and started to walk away, but then turned back and leaned close to Sirius over the table. "I hope you realize that you just proved that I was right to doubt you. I can't trust you." Meg straightened and walked down the aisle and out the door.

--

Peter's high-pitched snores were starting to annoy Sirius. He hardly ever came up to their room this early, if he ever came up at all. After dinner and Meg's outburst, the others had quickly scattered, leaving Sirius alone at the Gryffindor table, pushing potatoes and peas around his plate. He tried to eat a helping of chocolate pudding but found it hard to swallow past the lump forming in his throat. Channeling his hurt into frustration, Sirius had thrown his spoon down and made an exit almost equal to Meg's in furious indignation. He had not stopped to exchange greetings or small talk with anyone. His frustration had almost run its course by the time he entered the common room but had reignited at the sight of Meg and Remus sitting in a window, chatting quietly, and so, he had continued up to the dorm room despite James's attempts to catch his attention in the common room.

Sirius rubbed his face and ran his hands through his hair. He'd been trying for two and a half hours to figure out how to fix his relationship – or at least his friendship – with Meg, but so far had been unsuccessful. He had let his emotions get the better of his logical judgment, and now he was paying the price; Meg was going on a date with Remus, and despite their protests, Sirius was convinced that there was at least a little something romantic there for both of them. He sighed and fell back onto his pillow, letting a growl grow deep in his throat until it broke the surface and rang through the nearly silent dorm. Peter snorted at the noise and shifted in his bed. Sirius chuckled under his breath and sighed.

The door creaked as it opened, and Sirius sat up and drew back the hangings around his bed to see which of his friends had entered the room. Seeing both James and Remus, Sirius frowned and flopped back down onto his pillows.

"Still brooding then?" James asked with a chuckle as he sat down on his bed and removed his shoes and socks. Remus shook his head but a small smile was trying to break the stern expression that had been planted on his face since dinner.

"Shut up, Prongs," Sirius said, falling easily into banter with his friend. He sat up and loosened his tie, pulling it up over his head and draping it over the handle of the top drawer of his nightstand.

"Why? Do you need us to leave? You need some more moody-time?" James continued to tease, hoping to break some of the tension still hanging between his two best friends. Remus let his smile come to full bloom this time, and Sirius realized he was relieved that his friend didn't truly hate him as he had feared only a few moments before.

"Lay off, Prongs. We give you all the time you need when you're having one of your Lily-depressions," Remus spoke up and smiled over at Sirius, who returned the grin. James stuck his tongue out at Moony and Padfoot. "Really mature, mate," Remus said. He glanced over at Sirius in time to see him sticking his tongue out at James. He sighed and flopped onto his bed.

James turned down the wick of his lamp and flicked his wand at the door, shutting and locking it with another flick. "Good night, you jerks," he said in a sing-song voice before drawing his hangings closed. Sirius chuckled and turned out his own lamp before sliding under his covers. Remus was still sitting up on his bed next to Sirius's.

Remus looked over at his friend and shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't mean to hurt you, you know," he said. He laid back in his bed, not expecting any sort of response. He turned out his lamp and closed his hangings.

Sirius drew back his hangings about an inch, to make sure that Remus would hear him before he said, "Me too, Moony. Me too." He let the hangings fall back into place and stared up at the top of his canopy waiting for sleep to take him.

"She's right, Sirius. It doesn't matter what happens with us tomorrow. You have to earn her trust back. It's up to you, mate," Remus's wise-beyond-his-years voice echoed through the darkness. Sirius sighed and rolled over, repeating his friend's words as he drifted to sleep, _It's up to you_.

* * *

Oh, man, I'm so sorry everyone. I realize I have been a terrible updater and I will probably continue to be so in the future. I only hope that this chapter makes my faults a little easier to bear. :) Let me know what you think!


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